Has adaptive Sat Nav increased traffic problems in Stafford...

5

52.8N-2.1W

Guest
...whenever there's an incident on the M6?

I haven't live here long enough to know if there's a notable difference but I get the impression that 10 years ago when the M6 ground to a halt people would just sit in the traffic jam twiddling their thumbs.

These days, with the likes of adaptive sat navs that receive live traffic information and re-route accordingly I'm wondering if the moment there's a semi-significant hold-up on the M6 people are getting re-routed onto the A34.
 

grumpystaffordguy

Well-Known Forumite
I dunno if a place has two motorway junctions close together then people can suss it out. However I think people in general are more likely to look for alternate routes when they have a Sat Nav. That bypass would have been good, but it is hard to justify the expense (and the mess it would make).
 
5

52.8N-2.1W

Guest
grumpystaffordguy said:
I dunno if a place has two motorway junctions close together then people can suss it out. However I think people in general are more likely to look for alternate routes when they have a Sat Nav. That bypass would have been good, but it is hard to justify the expense (and the mess it would make).
Would that have linked the end of Beaconside (Uni roundabout) across to the A34 where it heads off towards Cannock?
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
52.8N-2.1W said:
grumpystaffordguy said:
I dunno if a place has two motorway junctions close together then people can suss it out. However I think people in general are more likely to look for alternate routes when they have a Sat Nav. That bypass would have been good, but it is hard to justify the expense (and the mess it would make).
Would that have linked the end of Beaconside (Uni roundabout) across to the A34 where it heads off towards Cannock?
Did somebody say bypass?
 

henryscat

Well-Known Forumite
52.8N-2.1W said:
...whenever there's an incident on the M6?

I haven't live here long enough to know if there's a notable difference but I get the impression that 10 years ago when the M6 ground to a halt people would just sit in the traffic jam twiddling their thumbs.

These days, with the likes of adaptive sat navs that receive live traffic information and re-route accordingly I'm wondering if the moment there's a semi-significant hold-up on the M6 people are getting re-routed onto the A34.
I'm not convinced it'll have had much effect. I would guess that most drivers (especially at peak times) don't drive with a sat nav on most of the time. Not sure what proportion of sat navs have traffic info, though it appears to be an increasing number.

People regularly using the M6 will have back up routes in their head if things descend into chaos, I know I did when I was going up and down the M6 every day. The alternative routes I tended to use probably wouldn't have been generated by a sat nav. For it to be worth diverting you need to have a reasonable chance of not getting clogged on your chosen diversionary route which can going further way from the motorway than the nearest parallel A - road.

I think the variable message signs on the motoway potentially have more to answer for (even if they do tell lies some of the time). If there's an accident say J13 - J14 or even J14 to J15, the signs are going to be on from a few junctions away so people will respond to that by coming off a junction or two before and then heading onto a diversionary route.
 

highguyuk

Well-Known Forumite
Between most motorway junctions, there are specific agreed diversion routes. These are the yellow backed symbols.

When a road is closed, 'trigger' signs should be activated to advise which symbol to follow to continue their journeys. These triggers are typically on the motorway exit slip road and on the junction itself.
 

Miss Red

Well-Known Forumite
I think you will find its not "sat nav" its " diversion" everyone knows if theres a accident on the motorway you leave the exit and rejoin at the next exit!
Because stafford junctions are opposite sides of town everyone goes through "town"! lol
Then because stafford roads are crap anyway with traffic lights, islands every 2 seconds - the town gets jammed too!!

It does happen in other towns/ cities etc it just that they dont notice it because most have a thing called a "bypass" or lots of routes that people can "share" to take them to other juction!!
But unfortunately stafford is so far in the dark ages - they have yet to discover that a bypass can actually help (even though it might mean losing a cow field or a tractor route)
 
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